Tag Archives: Godzilla…

The Japanese collectible company, X-Plus, has announced the Monster Total Advance 50th Anniversary Set (Destroy All Monsters), an 11 figure set, and a new Large Monster Series Flying Ghidorah.

Japanese vinyl is a highly specialized area of collecting that I haven’t ventured into, as a collector or on this website. I frankly lack the expertise to discuss these figures in the detail they deserve. But when I saw this accumulated collection from one of my very favorite Toho kaiju films, I had to dip my toes in and share the news with my fellow monster kid collectors.

X-Plus is headquartered in Osaka, Japan and the company strives to provide high-quality statues and figures at ‘affordable’ prices. They make unbelievably realistic movie-accurate figures from our favorite kaiju movies. These figures are striking in their movie-accuracy but they are not cheap.

The 11 piece set includes Godzilla, Minya, Baragon, Manda, Anguirus, Kumonga, Varan, Mothra (larva), Rodan, Gorosaurus, and a new Flying King Ghidorah.

All of these figures, except Ghidorah, have been released previously, and all are Large Monster Series figures, which means they are approximately 10 inches high. X-Plus collectors often refer to this line as the “25cm Series”. These figures are being re-issued in the United States by Diamond so you can pre-order them at your local comic or collectible shop.

Below, I’ve included links to pre-order some of these figures through Entertainment Earth and I’ve also included links to current eBay auctions and Amazon for previous releases of these same figures.

Large Monster Series X-Plus Flying King Ghidorah

Ghidorah is 18 inches tall and comes with a base and background. The set ships in three boxes. It’s typical that some assembly is required with X-Plus figures.

Select versions of this figure will include a fabric Mount Fuji backdrop (the location of the final battle in Destroy All Monsters). No word on the size of the backdrop, but it looks pretty big (see lead image of this article). Make sure you are clear from any seller if the item you are ordering includes the backdrop or not prior to purchasing. This vinyl will have a limited run so it is possible that it will sell out before the scheduled end date. X-Plus says, though, that if there is enough interest in more, they will follow up with a second run. Preorders will end on October 2, 2018 as long as they don’t reach the maximum number for the run. It is expected to ship November 2018.

Large Monster Series X-Plus Rodan

Originally a stand-along Kaiju character separate from the Godzilla franchise, Rodan is a powerful Pteranodon that allies with Godzilla to save Monster Island and the world from monstrous threats. Here, this Rodan 1964 Version Kaiju Vinyl Figure – Previews Exclusive recreates Rodan as he appeared in 1964’s kaiju film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. In excellent detail, Rodan measures about 24-inches wide x 15 3/4-inches tall x 7-inches long!

Large Monster Series X-Plus Manda & Mothra Larva

Manda measures about 18-inches long and comes with a faux rock to help support its upraised head and also serves to reproduce his pose in that final scene at Mount Fuji at the end of the film. The Mothra Larva is a little over 9-inches long, and also comes with a rock base of its own.

Large Monster Series X-Plus Kumonga

X-Plus captures the look of the monstrous Kumonga as he appeared in the 1967 film, Son of Godzilla! Also known to Western audiences as Spiga or Spiega, the leg span of this vinyl figure is a massive 20-inches long!

Large Monster Series X-Plus Baragon and Varan

From classic 1968 film, Destroy All Monsters, comes this Godzilla Kaiju 8-Inch Series Baragon and Varan 1968 Version Sofubi Vinyl Figures – Previews Exclusive! This 2-packl includes your favorite kaiju from the movie. Baragon stands about 12-inches tall and Varan is sculpted in scale and comes with a rock base for display.

Large Monster Series X-Plus Gorosaurus

As a gigantic dinosaur resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex, this Gorosaurus is based on his appearance in 1968’s kaiju epic, Destroy All Monsters! The Godzilla Kaiju Series Gorosaurus 1968 Version Sofubi Vinyl Figure – Previews Exclusive stands approximately 10-inches tall with an overall length of over 15-inches to the tip of his tail. This beautifully sculpted, hand-painted vinyl figure captures every detail of this supporting kaiju in all his glory.

Large Monster Series X-Plus Anguirus

Godzilla’s spiny nemesis lives again! Once one of Godzilla’s most fearsome foes, the monster Anguirus became the mighty Godzilla’s trusted ally. This Previews Exclusive Godzilla Anguirus 1968 Version 12-Inch Vinyl Figure sculpts Anguirus based on his appearance in 1968’s Destroy All Monsters and measures 12-inches long, 24-inches long with his tail attached!

Large Monster Series X-Plus Godzilla & Minya 1968

Apparently, no re-issue has been announced for the Large Monster Series Godzilla figure, which was originally released November 2011 and is super cool! He stands 9 inches tall. There is a version that also includes an in-scale Minya figure (6 inches tall).

I have to admit that the super realism of these figures really intrigues me because they look so much like the movie versions of the characters. As a collector of mostly vintage toys, I have a deep affection for some degree of whimsy in my less-than-accurate designs. I respect the immense level of talent that goes into designing and sculpting these modern figures and it there’s any collectible category I’d be tempted to wading into it’s these remarkable movie-accurate Toho kaiju. What are your thoughts on these types of collectibles?

EVERYONE WINS WITH THIS SUMMER’S SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIES

Beginning May 27, COMET will be airing a double-header of classic monster movies every Sunday throughout the summer, with the first film each night featuring your favorite giant lizard and the second starring some lesser-known beasts. The Godzilla films featured run the gamut from his 1954 debut Gojira, to the campy Son of Godzilla, to the monster mash of Destroy All Monsters. As for the other monsters featured, you can look forward to campy classics like the King Kong/Frankenstein hybrid Konga, the Korean Godzilla equivalent Yongary, Monster from the Deep, and the legendary Reptilicus.

MONSTERSUMMER Line-Up
Sundays 8/7C

5/27Gojira Reptilicus

6/3Godzilla: King of the MonstersPhantom from 10,000 Leagues

6/10Godzilla vs. Monster ZeroCreature of Destruction

6/17Terror of MechagodzillaThe Beast from Haunted Cave

6/24Godzilla vs. MechagodzillaYongary, Monster From The Deep

7/1Destroy All MonstersDestroy All Planets

7/8Son of GodzillaKonga

7/15Godzilla vs. MegalonWar of the Gargantuas

7/22GojiraAttack of the Monsters

7/29Destroy all MonstersMonster from a Prehistoric Planet

8/5Godzilla: King of the MonstersMonster from the Surf

8/12Godzilla vs. Monster ZeroIt’s Alive!

8/19Terror of MechagodzillaVoyage into Space

8/26Godzilla vs. MechagodzillaThe Giant Gila Monster

9/2Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla IIThe Giant Claw

COMET TV is available over the air, on cable, streaming for free online and now on ROKU and APPLE TV! Visit the COMET Schedule for more info.

Monster Summer Prize Pack

Many of you know that I have a partnership with Comet TV and they send me free stuff from time to time to share with you guys. Since I don’t have enough to give to everyone, I have to come up with creative ways for you to earn it!

The CometTV Monster Summer Prize Pack includes:

1 – Limited Edition Monster Summer Beach Towel: Only available via this promotion, catch Godzilla having a blast with one of two designs. You’ll be the envy of your friends and have some extra protection if a monster comes from the depths to destroy the planet. Score!

1 – COMETTV Monster Summer SPF Pouch: Beat the rays with this Monster Summer SPF pouch. Apply liberally to ward off the sun, The Beast from the Haunted Cave, Rodan or any other variety of lizard-like beast.

1- COMETTV Cooler: Listen, even Godzilla needs a place to keep his brews chill. Let’s be honest, he needs to beat the heat at some point. I can see him carrying this cool-as-fire bag around to crack open a cold one.

1 – COMETTV Monster Summer Beach-Tastic Ball: Are you a ball-er? I hope so, cause you need to grab some buds, jump in the pool and play with this Godzilla Monster Summer Beach Ball. Groovy!

2 – Exclusive COMETTV Film Cards: See what COMETTV has this month, with these collector’s cards. Perfect for the Godzilla fan, the Monster-man, or the COMETTV junkie if your life!

HOW TO ENTER:

We’ve made it really easy to enter to win this month’s giveaway from our friends at COMET. To enter, complete any of the following actions by 12PM Central Standard Time June , 2018.

That’s it! Lots of ways to enter and help us spread the word. Good luck and happy watching! Happy Monster Summer, Monster Kids!

BECAUSE…LAWYERS:

Entries must be submitted by June 19, 2018 at 12PM CST. This contest is only open to residents of the United States. No international entries will be accepted. Winner(s) will be chosen randomly from valid entries and will be notified by email, so make certain you can receive email from CollectingClassicMonsters.com . You must respond within 48 hours to claim the prize. The prize will be sent via FedEx or USPS. No P.O. Boxes, please. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of your prize pack. Only one entrant per household. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Void where prohibited.

Any personal information you supply to us upon entering this contest will not be shared with any outside parties, except in the case when an outside party is handling prize fulfillment. In that instance, the prize winner(s) mailing information will be provided to the fulfillment team.

Disclosure: I received a free or greatly discounted product for the purpose of this review. The opinions are 100% mine. I have not been influenced in any way and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials In Advertising. Questions or concerns please contact me at george@collectingclassicmonsters.com

Godzilla is taking over COMET TV in September!

Saturdays in Sept, Comet TV has Godzilla Millennium Series double features starting at 2P/1C. Check out the times below:

SATURDAYS IN SEPTEMBER
Double Feature starting at 2P/1C

Godzilla VS. Destroyah (1995)

Saturday, September 16 at 4:30P/3:30PThursday, September 28 at 3:30/2:30P

Godzilla VS. Spacegodzilla (1994)

Saturday, September 16 at 2P/1CFriday, September 29 at 3:30P/2:30P

Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-out Attack (2001)Saturday, September 23 at 2P/1CThursday, September 28 at 6P/5C

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Saturday, September 23 at 10P/9CSaturday, September 30 at 2P/1C

SEPTEMBER 25 – 29
Starting at various afternoon times

GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2005)

Sunday, September 24 at 1A/MIDNIGHTSaturday, September 30 at 5P/4C

Godzilla 2000 (1999)

Saturday, September 23 at 4P/3C
and Friday, September 30 at 5P/4C

Many of you know that I have a partnership with Comet TV and they send me free stuff from time to time to share with you guys. Since I don’t have enough to give to everyone, I have to come up with creative ways to have you earn it! This month, Comet TV sent me this “Godzilla Doing Work”vinyl figure:

Now the fine folks at Comet TV are giving me the opportunity yo give one of my readers their own “Godzilla Doing Work” vinyl figure too:

That’s it! Lots of ways to enter and help us spread the word. Just subscribe to our email list below this article to get started and then do any one of the above to be entered to win! Good luck and happy watching!

BECAUSE…LAWYERS:

Entries must be submitted by September 29, 2017 at 12PM EST. This contest is only open to residents of the United States. No international entries will be accepted. Winner(s) will be chosen randomly from valid entries and will be notified by email, so make certain you can receive email from CollectingClassicMonsters.com by September 29, 2017 and must respond within 48 hours to claim their prize. The prize will be sent via FedEx or USPS. No P.O. Boxes, please. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of your prize pack. Only one entrant per household. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Void where prohibited.

Any personal information you supply to us upon entering this contest will not be shared with any outside parties, except in the case when an outside party is handling prize fulfillment. In that instance, the prize winner(s) mailing information will be provided to the fulfillment team.

*Note, you can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time (but why would you want to???), though you need to be subscribed at the time the contest winner is selected. The email newsletter contains links to all of our published stories from the previous month as well as exclusive content and special offers.

Disclosure: I received a free or greatly discounted product for the purpose of this review. The opinions are 100% mine. I have not been influenced in any way and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials In Advertising. Questions or concerns please contact me at george@collectingclassicmonsters.com

We’re fortunate to live close to the Minnesota Zoo and we’ve taken full advantage of that proximity through the years by spending a great deal of quality family time there. This summer, the zoo is hosting a special, can’t miss exhibit featuring almost life-size animatronic dinosaurs, including a special exhibit of vintage dinosaur toys!

As a 70s Monster Kid, it’s not too surprising that I grew up loving dinosaurs. In fact, as I’ve explained previously, I consider dinosaurs my gateway to classic monsters.

This cool exhibit is titled “DiNostalgia: A Stroll Down the History of Prehistory” and curated by the Zoo’s Director or Guest Experience, Jessica Madole, who is a collector herself. In fact, many of the pieces featured in this exhibit were from her personal collection.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Jessica and discuss the exhibit, and her personal love of collecting, at the zoo earlier this summer.

Why Vintage Dinosaur Toys?

While the Minnesota Zoo has featured life-size dinosaur exhibit several times in recent years, the decision to enhance this year’s exhibit with pop culture collectibles came about for practical reasons.

Last year, the zoo’s exhibited giant bugs! And while many of Monster Kids love our radioactive giant bug Sci-Fi movies, the zoo exhibit was a bit more educational in focus and the building was used to display the real-lifel bugs whose giant animatronic counterparts were featured in the display. That left the zoo with a nice covered walkway with small glass-faced displays and a question of what, if anything, they could do with this space for this year’s dinosaur exhibit.

As a collector of vintage dinosaur memorabilia, Jessica had the easy answer: feature examples of dinosaurs in popular culture through the years.

The DiNostalgia Exhibit

The exhibit takes a chronological stroll through the many ways dinosaurs have appeared in mainstream American culture, beginning with roadside kitsch and gas station mascots during the mid 20th Century:

The tour continues with this great display of vintage dinosaur books, many from Jessica’s personal collection:

Each exhibit included a simple but informative plaque to like this one accompanying the multiple Marx toys displays:

And the classic Marx Flintstones toy set:

Jessica explained that the next bit was somewhat controversial, since the King of the Monsters isn’t technically a dinosaur (though the 2014 Legendary reboot says otherwise). Nonetheless, us Monster Kids are always happy to see our favorite atomic-breathed kaiju and the zoo took the opportunity to differentiate the imaginary Godzilla from the historical Tyrannosaurus Rex:

I was quite impressed with the craftsmanship of the model paint job and also curious where the model was curated from. Jessica explained that the zoo bought a later model Polar Lights re-issue and had a zoo volunteers assemble and paint the kit. Readers will be glad to hear that I was quick to volunteer for any such future model kit assembly work that the zoo has need for!

Next up, we find a nice exhibit of comics featuring dinosaurs including this terrific copy of Savage Tales from Jessica’s collection along with some Turok and Jurassic Park comics:

As a child of the 1970s, I was thrilled to see the focus on the essential Saturday morning classic Land of the Lost:

Love the vintage Viewmaster cover:

The exhibit continued with a feature on the 1990s ABC series Dinosaurs as well as Jurassic Park which are outside the scope of this blog, but essential to the historical collection the zoo assembled.

As Monster Kids, we are used to living outside the mainstream of popular culture and it’s always a thrill to see the things we love and celebrate get the spotlight. My thanks to Jessica and love of vintage dinosaur stuff for taking the time to give me a tour and for championing this informative and fun exhibit.

Hurry! The Exhibit Ends Soon.

If you live in the area, I highly recommend you pack the family into he car and get to the Minnesota Zoo for this wonderful exhibit — but hurry! It’s only onen through Labor Day.

Collecting Vinyl Godzilla Figures

The first Godzilla figure was issued in 1966 by the Marusan Company andmany vintage collectors consider Bullmark to be the finest and most varied line of Godzilla toys ever created, even making a cameo in Godzilla v Hedorah. The Marusan and Bulwark lines, along with the original Bandai 8 inch line, are the most important of any Godzilla toys historically with . All of these vintage vinyl figures share the following two characteristics; a highly stylized design and a usually unrealistic, brightly colored paint scheme.

After a 10 year hiatus, Toho announced a new Godzilla movie in 1983, kicking Godzilla merchandising into high gear. Yakmakatsu and Bandai both entered the vinyl figure market that same year and their realistic approach to figure production changed everything. These figures were the first truly realistic renditions produced, both in sculpture and painting. The U.S. didnt get in on the act until the early ’90s when Trendmaster released it’s “King of the Monsters” line, followed in late 2003 by Bandai‘s U.S. effort. Both companies continue to release figures associated with the classic Toho films as well as the new Legendary universe.

Godzilla: Vinyl Wars Collection

That brings us to the Godzilla: Vinyl Wars collaboration between Japan’s classic sofubi manufacturers and cutting-edge Japanese toy maker Medicom Toy. Each release in Godzilla Vinyl Wars is a reproduction of a classic Toho sofubi from the 1960s through today. Sofubi means “soft vinyl” and this collection reproduces many of those original Marusan and Bullmark toys, released legitimately for Western collectors for the first time ever. Each Godzilla Vinyl Wars Sofubi is hand-crafted, hand-painted and inspired the designer toy movement

The following sofubi are available now:

Bear Model originally released this classic, 1954-inspired sofubi to adoring collectors in Japan in 2003. Now wearing a more true green paint deco and measuring approximately 9-inches tall, this re-issue is a limited edition of only 200 pieces!

Medicom has also released a number of retailer variants, including a Rodan sofubi, which I haven’t included in this post. Most of these variants are unique colors on the same figures above and a completist collector can get more information at Medicom’s website

The Godzilla Vinyl Wars EX series Arrives February 2016

this news series opens with this Previews Exclusive Godzilla Vinyl Wars Hedorah Megaton Version Sofubi Vinyl Figure of the smog monster from the Godzilla films. Figure stands nearly 20-inches tall.

As we wrote earlier in this post, there are many retailer-exclusive versions. These typically involving a unique paint scheme not available elsewhere. We’ve included some of these here but have not attempted to track down every variant.

The intent here is to present the classic monster collector with a brand overview of the Godzilla Vinyl Wars sofubi collection I highly recommend Club Tokyo which is an extensive resource for kaiju collectibles and vinyl figures.

While we love to collect vintage, we think the Godzilla Vinyl Wars collection is a great place to start for anyone interested in collecting Godzilla. Because these are limited edition and based on vintage figures from the 1960s onward, I like the idea of beginning here and then tracking down the original figure counterparts. Sofubi collecting is a passionate community and there are a lot of great online communities dedicated to sofubi collecting of every stripe .

Godzilla Collector Resources:

We’ll add these links to our Collector’s Resource page of course and if you know of any great online resources for Godzilla or kaiju collecting, we’d appreciate you letting us know in the comments section below:

Classic Movie Poster Gallery

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Toho, 1956)
U.S. One-sheet (27″ x 41″)

Godzilla King of the Monsters is the heavily re-edited American 1956 adaptation of the Japanese film Gojira, originally produced by Toho Studios in 1954, which had previously been shown subtitled in the United States in Japanese community theaters only, and was not released in Europe. For the American version, some of the political, social, and anti-nuclear themes and overtones were removed, resulting in 16 minutes of footage cut from the original Japanese version and replaced with new footage shot exclusively for the film’s North American release, featuring Canadian actor Raymond Burr playing the lead role of American journalist Steve Martin, from whose perspective the film is told, mainly through flashbacks and narration.

Of note, Godzilla King of the Monsters was the first post-World War II film to present Japanese people in heroic roles or as sympathetic victims of the destruction of Tokyo to the American public in a commercial release given A-picture status and bookings.

This poster is the U.S. One-sheet style for the 1956 release and I simply love ti for it’s comic book sensibilities and over-top melodrama:

Incredible, Unstoppable Titan of Terror

It’s Alive

Civilization Crumbles as its death rays blast a city of 6 million from the face of the earth

Mightiest Monster!

Mightiest Melodrama of them all!

Who could have known that 61 years after the release of the original Toho film in Japan that Godzilla would still be the King of the Monsters and as viable commercially at the box office as in the mid-1950s.

All Hail, Godzilla! King of the Monsters!

Enjoy this 1956 theatrical trailer for Godzilla, King of the Monsters:

Poster Value

This poster is always in high demand and the only current auction I found while writing this article was on Heritage Auctions. They are offering a folded, Fine/Very Fine copy and estimate it will sell for $2,000 to $4,000. Since the current bid is $1,000 with 17 days yet to go in the auction, their estimate is probably low.

The King of the Monster Collectibles

Toho Studios gave us the King of the Monsters in 1954 and it’s the gift that keeps on giving. While the monster’s character has evolved and morphed as many times as the monster suit, Godzilla remains an incredibly popular as evidenced by the commercial success of the Legendary Pictures 2014 release Godzilla. Toho purists might have been distressed by the American reboot but they are counting on the 2016 release of the next Toho installment in the Godzilla franchise.

The breadth of Godzilla, and related kaiju, collectibles is pretty overwhelming. With the ever growing popularity of Japanese vinyl and sofubi. kaiju figure collectibles of every size, shape and color are available. In this week’s series, we’ll focus primarily on Monster Kid related collectibles from the 1960s and 70s during the Showa period of Godzilla’s film catalog. In future posts, we’ll explore the modern collectible market and the impact of Godzilla and his pals in this increasingly popular urban vinyl category.

Collecting Godzilla

I highly recommend both of these books for anyone interested in Godzilla and other kaiju collectibles.

Classic Movie Poster Gallery

With Jurrasic World stomping through the box office, I thought it would be fun to look back at classic movie posters of a film genre that is so near-and-dear to my heart, dinosaur movies. Also, “lost worlds” and “giant atomic beasts.” I love them all!

While not the first dinosaur/lost world film by a long shot, Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is the first in a long-line of movies in the “Giant Atomic Beast” genre, pre-dating even the venerable Godzilla by one year. The importance of the film isn’t limited to simply being first. This movie was also the first solo project for our beloved Ray Harryhausen and the only time in cinematic history that Harryhausen and his lifelong friend, Ray Bradbury, appeared in the film credits together. The movie was loosely based on a short story Bradbury published in the Saturday Evening Post.

The one-sheet poster for this movie is simply great, including no less than 5 tag lines:

The Seas’ Master Beast of the Ages – Raging Up From the Bottom of Time!

They Couldn’t Believe Their Eyes! They Couldn’t Escape the Terror! And Neither Will YOU!

You’ll See It Tear a City Apart!

CASTS OF THOUSANDS! Over a Year in the Making!

Synopsis

A group of scientists and military men are in the remote far reaches of the Arctic Circle, testing a nuclear device. The detonation sets free a prehistoric “Rhedosaurus”, a giant carnivorous dinosaur that walks on four legs. The Beast makes its way south toward old nesting grounds, sinking a ship along the way. The Beast destroys a lighthouse along his route and eventually comes ashore in New York City, wreaking havoc. As if his ferocity and size were not enough of a menace, it is discovered that when wounded, the Beast drips blood that contains deadly amounts of radioactive bacteria. The military decides that the Beast will have to be taken out by a grenade rifle armed with a radioactive isotope leading to a final showdown in an unlikely setting – a closed amusement park.

Enjoy the movie trailer:

Poster Value:

This poster simply doesn’t show up at auction very often. Heritage Auctions sold one way back in 2008 for $1,553. There is one current eBay listing for a nice copy of the poster for $1,450.

Summary

This movie is simply great and it’s importance can’t be understated to fans of genre movies. Not only did this film give Harryhausen is break-out opportunity, the film’s director, Eugene Lourie went on to become specialize in the genre of giant atomic beast invasion films. In 1959 he directed The Giant Behemoth, which featured stop-motion effects by Willis O’Brien and his assistant Pete Peterson, using many of the same low-budget methods that Harryhausen had pioneered. This was followed in short order by Gorgo (1961), which Lourie directed in England, this time featuring a man-in-a-suit monster.

The commercial success of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms led other Hollywood studios to jump on the bandwagon. The following is from Turner Classic Movies tribute to Ray Harryhausen:

Meanwhile, the influence of Harryhausen’s first solo creation was being felt around the world. In Japan, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka of Toho Studios read a synopsis of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in a trade magazine, and it inspired him to create a homegrown monster-on-the-loose. The first script for what would become Gojira (1954) even included an attack on a lighthouse. Gojira was a fearsome scaly-spined dinosaur brought to life as a man-in-a-suit by effects expert and longtime Kong fan Eiji Tsuburaya. (The edited film received added footage featuring Raymond Burr and a new title for its American release as Godzilla, King of the Monsters in 1956).

Warner Bros. also took note of the success of Beast and immediately put into production Them! (1954), which would feature an invasion of giant ants and a copycat release pattern of saturation bookings and a massive advertising campaign. Other studios would launch their own giant insect films as a result. So two entire movie sub-genres, the Japanese daikaiju (giant monster) film, and the American “Big Bug” movie, can be traced back to the twin successes of the 1952 reissue of King Kong and its Atomic-Age imitator, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

Can Today’s Kids Still Be Monster Kids?

The term ‘Monster Kid’ is widely applied to generations who grew up during the great monster craze that swept popular culture in America during the 1950s and 1960s. I came of age in the 1970s and there are plenty of my generation who relate, and adopt, the moniker of Monster Kid as well.

Many of us Monster Kids are far from childhood in our age but have had the privilege of raising kids of our own. Is it possible to raise modern Monster kids in the digital age? This Monster Kid Dad is giving it the old college try, with some mixed results.

Through my series, Raising Modern Monster Kids. I’ll keep readers updated on this journey and share my successes – and failures – for all to enjoy.

This is what my 8 year old son wrote in school on Friday:

As you can tell, my son loves Godzilla. We saw Godzilla 2014 in the theater last summer and he loved it. But that wasn’t the first Godzilla movie he saw. No, Terror of Mechagodilla, King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla vs Mothra, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla: Final Wars and Son of Godzilla all preceded the Legendary reboot in my son’s Godzilla movie viewing. He’s 8 and he calls out the monsters as guys in suits, but once the giant monster brawls begin, he doesn’t care.

I really liked Legendary’s Godzilla and I’m okay if this new version becomes my son’s preferred Godzilla. He’ll have to make his own choices. All I can do is make sure he is exposed to the classic movies that inspired the reboot and hope that he falls for them like I did.

I’m optimistic that I can raise modern monster kids who love the new but treasure the classic.

This one is clearly in the ‘Win’ column! Enjoy and Happy Memorial Day to all you Monster Kids — young and old!